Now in an Extended Run Through January 28, 2012
Runs: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 7PM Jan 15 & 22 Only!
Admission: $20, with two for one admission on Thursdays, $25 on Saturdays, $20 on Sundays Purchase Tickets

Guest Hungarian/Romanian director Istvan K. Szabo captures the signature comic/tragic surrealism of Matei Visniec’s the word progress on my mother’s lips doesn’t ring true. Winner of the “Best Play in the Off-section” at the Avignon Festival in 2009 this American Premiere delves into the pits of refugee psyche, a metaphysical space where one continuously runs from a place with nothing left, to a place with nothing to offer

“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!”
- Hedy Weiss, The Chicago Sun-Times.

“This Trap Door Theatre production is relentlessly provocative, impossibly beautiful, and apt to haunt you long after it ends. Recommended!”
- Justin Hayford, The Chicago Reader

“Trap Door has long been the go-to venue in town for European avant-garde drama, but this production is the finest I’ve yet seen from these indispensable stalwarts of the storefront. It isn’t afraid to be emotionally accessible — if you’ve been tempted to try one of their shows, make it this one. **** (4) stars!”
- Kerry Reid, The Chicago Tribune

Cast: Antonio Brunetti, Wladyslaw Byrdy, Malcolm Callan, Simina Contras,
Kevin Cox, John Kahara, Beata Pilch, Nicole Wiesner

Matei Visniec playwright, poet and journalist, was born in Romania, and now lives in Paris. He began writing for the theatre in 1977. Early in his career Visniec’s plays were banned by the Romanian censors. In 1987 he was invited to France by a literary foundation. While there, he asked for and received political asylum. After the fall of communism in Romania, in 1989, Visniec became one of the most performed playwrights in the country. Visniec gained international attention in 1992, with productions of Horses at the Window in France, and Old Clown Wanted at the “Bonner Biennale”. Since then, Matei Visniec’s work has been produced in France, Germany, United States, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Brazil, Romania, and Moldavia. Most recently, his play the word progress on my mother’s lips doesn’t ring true was the winner of the “Best Play in the Off-section” at the Avignon Festival in 2009.

Set Designer Mike Mroch / Lighting Designer Richard Norwood / Costume Designer Bisa Dimitrova / Music Composer Ovidiu Iloc/ Sound Designer Sam Lewis / Stage Manager Allison Raynes/ Asstistant Stage Manager Lisa Much/ Make up Designer Zsofia Otvos / Specialty Props Meredith Miller / Graphic Designer Michal Janicki/ Dramaturg Milan Pribisic This play was first presented in English at the Immigrant Theatre Project (ITP) in New York 2006 This collaboration is made possible with the generous support of the Cultural Services of the French Consulate in Chicago and a grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding in New York.

Bring a new toy to Trap Door and get $10 off your ticket price!

Participate in Trap Door’s Toy Drive for refugees and children seeking asylum in Chicago with Chicago’s Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights and receive $10 off your ticket price for ‘The word progress on my mother’s lips doesn’t ring true.’

Bring a new toy to the theatre and help make the holiday season a little brighter for a newly arrived refugee and his or her family.

Toys will be distributed to the following Heartland Alliance programs:
The Marjorie Kovler Center; The International Family, Adult, and Child Enhancement Services (FACES); The Refugee & Immigrant Community Services Center (RICS)

For more information visit: www.heartlandalliance.org